Carl Pelini turns himself in to police following alleged domestic violence incident
Former college football coach Carl Pelini turned himself in to police Tuesday morning after being charged with domestic violence.
According to WFMJ, a warrant was issued for Pelini’s arrest by Boardman (Ohio) police following an alleged incident between the coach and his wife over the weekend. Pelini appeared in Mahoning County Court on Tuesday morning and issued a not guilty plea on misdemeanor domestic violence charges.
According to the Youngstown Vindicator, officers were called to the Pelini home in the early hours of Sunday morning. The couple’s daughter called the police and said her parents were fighting. The woman told police that Pelini “just hit me” and that the two were having an argument.
According to the police report, township police were called at 2:39 a.m. Sunday to a home by a daughter, who said her mother had a black and blue eye and was bleeding.
The report states that a son in the home was awakened by a loud banging and called the woman, who answered the phone crying. The report states he went to check on the woman and saw blood on the kitchen floor. She said she didn’t know what happened.
Pelini is entering his second season as the head coach at Cardinal Mooney High School in Youngstown, Ohio. The school has placed him on paid administrative leave, pending an investigation.
Pelini is the younger brother of Bo Pelini, the former head coach at Nebraska and Youngstown State. Carl was the defensive coordinator on Bo’s staff at YSU in 2019 before Bo left to become the defensive coordinator at LSU.
Carl Pelini also served as his brother’s defensive coordinator at Nebraska from 2008 to 2011 before becoming the head coach at Florida Atlantic. Pelini resigned from FAU due to alleged illegal drug use. At the time of his resignation, Pelini apologized for “exercising poor judgement.” He later denied the allegations of drug use and filed a defamation lawsuit against a former FAU assistant who said he witnessed Pelini using drugs.
Pelini also had stints as an assistant coach at Kansas State, Minnesota State, Ohio and Bowling Green.
